EP 31 - EMMA
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KAREN: Welcome back to the show mamas today. I have a special treat. We have Emma Brake is sharing her twin accidentally unassisted home birth story of her fourth and fifth babies. So she had two babies in the hospital. One baby at home and then decide to have a home birth for her twins.
But it was so fast, only 35 minutes, of labor. So her midwife didn't even make it. And this story is just incredible. We shared it on my Instagram, but I knew I had to reach back out to her to come on the podcast because you guys know how I'm a sucker for home birth stories, twin stories, breach stories, all the fun things.
So welcome to the podcast, Emma.
EMMA: Thank you. I appreciate you having me here.
KAREN: Oh, this is such a good one. I love your story and it got so many responses when we shared it. Tell us how did you decide that you wanted to have your twins at home?
EMMA: Well, my first two babies were born in the hospital. We were in the military at that point and try carefully covered it. And I kind of just thought that's what you did. And then with my third birth, we were out of the military and knew we were going to have to go through copays and hospital copays or something I didn't even want to deal with.
And so I started looking into home birth. And the more that I read about it, the more that I realized like, this is what I want to do. This is how I want to give birth. This is so in line with how I live my life, how I have my babies. Okay. And so I decided to start pursuing home birth and I just fell in love with it.
Like at that point I had a four year old and a two year old and they just sat next to me while I was in labor and danced and cheered for me and I just realized that it was such a different birth experience. Like I came out of it feeling so different I bonded with my baby so differently And I was like i'm never doing this any other way ever again and Then, a year and a half later, I found out that I was pregnant, and I was like, cool, home birth.
And I went in for a dating ultrasound because my husband was going to be deployed, and I was trying to get a better idea of what my due date would be, thinking that maybe he'd be able to come back. And I went in by myself and the lady was like, Oh, here's your little baby. Isn't he so cute? And I was like, Oh yeah, he's so cute.
There's just one. Right. And I laughed and she was like, ha ha ha. Just one. And then she paused for a minute and she was like, wait, the ultrasound wand a little bit, and I mean, I was just totally in shock. I was like twins, twins, twins. I think I probably said it like 30 times. I sounded ridiculous, I'm sure, but I was so in shock and I drove home thinking, what am I going to do?
Because the midwife that I had delivered my third with didn't do breach and she didn't do twins. And it was my only home birth experience. And I kind of just assumed that, you know, breach and twins were done in a hospital.
KAREN: Yeah.
EMMA: so I kind of decided, you know, maybe we're gonna figure it out. Maybe somebody will do it for us.
And so I went home and I immediately started researching midwives. And there was one that just really stuck out to me. I found a midwife who was just an angel. She was a surrogate for friends from church and was really passionate about doing surrogacy ethically.
And so her and the family that she was being a surrogate for decided that they were going to only implant two embryos, they were going to hope for twins they weren't going to do like the ten embryo thing and just see which ones implant, like they were going to go for two, they were going to hope for twins, and they just believed that life began at conception, and once they created embryos, they had a responsibility to raise them as children, and so she was a surrogate for this family twice, she had two sets of twins for them, And then she had a family come to her and ask her if she would be willing to do triplets.
And so she was a surrogate mom for triplets, delivered them at home. She was the primary midwife on duty. I mean, she was just incredible. And she was like, absolutely. I will take you and your twins.
KAREN: Wow.
EMMA: Yeah, that was just God. She's delivered 12 at this point. It's 13, 13 children, two sets of twins. And a set of triplets at home.
I was like, Lord, this is the right lady for me.
KAREN: She is the experienced one. Wow.
EMMA: Yeah. I mean, she's just incredible. And at that point I just had no worries, you know? Even though I had never heard at that point of twin home birth being done before, I just, I wasn't worried about it. I figured there have been twins all throughout history and up until pretty recently they were born at home.
And women just knew what to do. Like God gives us wisdom. He gives our babies wisdom. Our bodies just like work. And so I was really at peace with it from that point on knowing that I had a midwife that I could trust.
KAREN: Yeah.
Your twins are two and a half now just for context. And so this is two and a half years ago. So you're right, there was not a lot of home birth stories. That was around the time I was starting pain free birth and at that time I was like, if I found one, I was like, wow, I can't believe they had twins at home.
Like I had the same perspective initially that like, it's dangerous. It's risky. You're putting your babies in danger. The twins are so much more high risk. And I believe there's really been a shift in the last few years. I'm seeing way more twin home birth stories now. It's it's making something possible that like that wasn't accepted before and it's changing mothers mindsets and families who look at twins like oh that that's just so dangerous you have to give birth in the hospital and now we're starting to see all these stories and it's starting to turn the tide.
EMMA: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think COVID really changed a lot of people's views on home birth in general because I was pregnant with my third during COVID and he was born right at the beginning and at that point, home birth was still something that When we would tell people at the store he was born at home, you know, they'd be like, what?
He was born at home. That's crazy. And by the time he was nine or 10 months old, you know, people had started to realize we don't want to be in this medical system
and I've just loved to see the shift in the last few years of people realizing that the medical establishment doesn't need to be there to save them. I think people have seen that a lot with multiples too, and it's just becoming normalized as more stories show up on social media, as more people talk about it.
you know, When the twins were babies and there would be waitresses who would be like, Oh, what hospital were your babies born at? We tell them they were born at home and they'd be like, I'm a labor and delivery nurse at this hospital. And I think that's the coolest thing I've ever heard.
Seeing people become so much more open minded about it. I'm sure we've received some silent judgment, but we have not received any vocal judgment. People have just been so supportive. And I think a lot of that is because they could see the result already. People are always more judgmental when they don't know what the result's going to be.
KAREN: There's also this thing like people can also pick up on your insecurity and fear. And when moms are confident about their birth choices, like it sounded like you were so confident and you so trusted your midwife, you were you had clarity on your plan, you felt certainty, like there was a sense of like, this is the right thing.
And I think people have a harder time objecting to that. Even if they might have fears or judgments, when a mother is really confident about her birth choices, I don't hear them complaining about, oh, my family's judging me and I can't talk about this with them and they think we're crazy for birthing at home.
Like if you know how to stand in your power, like, those comments don't come up because whoever's most certain like wins the conversation and they just won't even bring it up.
EMMA: Yeah, absolutely. And we've always been the ones in our family to buck tradition and be like, No, we're not doing this, you know, like, we're not vaccinating our kids, we're not doing regular well visits, we're not doing the medical establishment where Just gonna live differently.
And so I think people kind of expected this from us too. You're like,
KAREN: oh, you're the crunchy home birthers. Yeah. Nope.
EMMA: We're not surprised. Absolutely.
KAREN: Yes.
EMMA: I don't think we surprised anybody with this choice.
KAREN: You know, on the show I love sharing stories from all different kinds of people. We have hospital births, we have free birthers.
It's like you accidentally had a free birth and unassisted birth , even though you were planned to have a midwife And, Mm-Hmm. . I just love that we can all share stories and find relatable stories that can inspire us. And I know this story is so gonna inspire so many women. I'd love to know, did you expect that your birth would be as fast as it was only 35 minutes?
EMMA: Uh, 35 minutes. No, definitely did not expect that. It was actually 34. It was 36 from the time my water broke and 34 from the first contraction.
KAREN: And when did your water break? Was that like, is that what started labor?
EMMA: Yes, I believe so. I Was in padroma labor for four days. I woke up on Tuesday and was just like, This is the day!
I've got the contractions. They're timeable. They're regular. They're wrapping around my stomach. Like, I know that it's time. And then I went to bed. And then I woke up in the morning and I was like, What?
And so on Wednesday morning, again, I was like, all right, this is the day we're going to do this. I'm having contractions. My midwife was like, I'm already at a birth. Why don't you just try to hold the babies in a little bit longer? Keep me updated. We'll send somebody if they're coming. I wake up on Thursday morning and I'm like, are you kidding me? It happened again.
KAREN: Thursday
EMMA: was the exact same. And on Friday, I woke up having contractions again at four in the morning and my midwife was like, all right, we're just getting back from another birth.
You know, we're going to get some rest. We'll come over as soon as you text us.
And I woke up. on Friday morning and the contractions were just gone again. And I just want to
KAREN: point out like how normal this is for some women. And if you are a first time mom listening to this, make a mental note because if this happens to you, your body is not broken. Don't freak out. Don't get stressed.
And don't get super excited because that is kind of the The test, the real test. Like if you go to bed and they go away, it's, it's not real labor. And I don't want to say it's false labor. I don't really like that term. bEcause of course, all those contractions, all those days of prodromal labor was probably really preparing your cervix.
You were probably effaced, dilated. And that's what How do you have such a fast labor, but that start and stop can be very common for a lot of labors and it doesn't have to be bad but it can be so emotional like such a roller coaster.
EMMA: It is it's such a roller coaster you're like today's the day I'm going to meet my babies, maybe in an hour.
I'm going to take a nap and then you wake up and you're like, What? What happened? What's happening? I'm pregnant. And you think maybe it's gonna happen like once or twice and it happens to you like six times and you're like, I'm gonna be pregnant for the rest of my life. Oh, man. But, to answer your question Baby A dropped at 34 weeks.
And by 35 weeks, I remember talking To my midwife about baby dropping. And she's like, you know, one time I had a lady who had a baby, a knuckle in for two weeks before he was born. And I was like, a knuckle in what she's like, what do you think? A knuckle in? And I'm like, how is that possible?
Like, how can you just, how can your baby just sit there and not just fall out of you? like she could just reach her finger up and like one knuckle into her body, her baby's head was just sitting there. And I thought that that was crazy until it happened to me at 35 weeks.
Like one knuckle of her finger checking her. She could just feel one knuckle up inside her body, she could feel her baby's head. Which I thought was insane, because babies can't just sit there like you've almost given birth at that point.
KAREN: wow. So that means her cervix was almost completely effaced, because it had thinned out, but she was only maybe one centimeter dilated.
And
EMMA: I couldn't even feel my cervix by the time I was 36 weeks, like I was on Google trying to figure out how to do these self checks for dilation. And it was like, you can feel your cervix. And I'm like, I can't feel my cervix. And my midwife would be like, I don't know what to tell you. Just be on standby, your baby's going to come really fast.
Don't worry
KAREN: about don't check yourself, ladies, like, especially if your waters broken, that that's not good. It can lead to infection. But I can understand. I mean, It's like, what is going on in there? Like
EMMA: it was, it was totally like, people say that checking for dilation is absolutely no measure of labor.
And it's not. I mean, if I had gone to a hospital, they probably would have been like, we're going to do to you right now. Like your baby's right there. Something's wrong. Your labor is stalled. But nothing was wrong. I mean, that was just what my baby decided to do. And then he hung out there for another two weeks.
And so yeah, it wasn't helpful at all. It was just mental games.
KAREN: we don't know what baby needs if they needed that extra time for some reason, or the other twin needed the extra time or your body was getting ready. Their brain is still growing. Like we just don't know. And man, so much about pregnancy and birth is comes back to surrender and trust and letting go of our plans and expectations.
And it's easy to say until you're there, and you're 38 weeks pregnant, and you're like,
EMMA: I know, that is exactly how I felt.
And intuitively, I just kind of knew, like, there was something inside me that was just fascinated by precipitous births. And I haven't been with any of my other children. And I've done a lot of research on birth. I mean, I was fascinated with birth by baby number two.
And so I spent nine months researching births. And then with baby number three, I spent another nine months researching births and reading books. I mean, I read so many books and learned so much about labors and precipitous births just never stood out to me. And then something about the twins.
Every time I about precipitous births, I was just drawn to it. Like there was something in me that was like, I need to pay attention. Um, And so I just love how it shows how moms are just intuitive. There was just something in me that knew that my babies were going to come really, really fast.
But when my water actually broke, I heard this big pop inside me and I've never had my water break at the start of my labor before., but I had read so many birth stories and like, there was nothing else that it could have been.
I mean, it was like somebody popped a water balloon in my stomach. It was pretty obvious what had happened and nothing came out. And my midwife was like, nothing's coming out. And I'm like, nope, like hardly a drop. And it was just because baby was so low that he was just totally plugging everything up. I mean, once he was born, it was like, it was like a waterfall.
I mean, it, it meant that. But I mean that told her to, you know, your water broke and it's not like hardly even leaking. I mean, we're talking like drops. That's like how low
KAREN: your baby was. That is how low my
EMMA: baby was. I mean, he was right there for like two weeks, which seems so crazy to think about because I don't even understand.
After it happening to me, how a baby can sit there so low, just happily, like, He was comfortable. He was
KAREN: totally
EMMA: fine. He just sat there for two weeks. Can you
KAREN: imagine if you had induced or broken your waters two weeks prior? That's two weeks of development. That they would not have gotten. I mean,
EMMA: that's a long time.
You don't know how far babies are along, really, unless you've got, like, dating ultrasounds from really early on, because dates can be off. Yeah. And, I mean, it's hard to know for sure, and when you're messing with babies that are that early, you could think your baby's pregnant.
38 weeks and they're 36 weeks and they just really need that extra time. Yeah. And it just made me so grateful that I wasn't in a hospital. Because my midwife was like, you know what? You're fine. Like, do you feel good? Do you feel like your babies feel good? I said yes. I mean, everything felt fine. I felt great.
KAREN: Are our babies healthy? Are heart tones good?
Are they in distress? Like, if everything is medically safe, there's no reason to rush it along. She just said, everything
EMMA: seems great, like, just let it happen.
After my water broke. So I had been really stressed because I had been in padroma labor for like four days, right? And on Saturday, I wake up to absolutely nothing my midwife is constantly checking in with me because she knew that it was going to be any moment And you know any contractions any contractions and I started texting back like i'm kind of feeling You know something at that point i've been having I still don't know whether these were braxton hicks contractions or real contractions and I'd been following your page at that point for quite some time. Like I know that's, A lot of women don't feel pain in labor. When you're relaxed, your body just feels things so differently.
But I still expected for there to be some intensity. Like, I mean, pain free doesn't mean that you don't feel anything. It just means that you're not feeling like this tear you in half pain. And I mean, I was feeling, Nothing. Like absolutely nothing. I couldn't even feel it. But they were coming pretty regularly two to four minutes.
So I was keeping my midwife updated. Like, I'm pretty sure these aren't contractions. I've been in labor a lot of times. These feel like nothing.
KAREN: And then So your water had already broken, but Not at that point. Not at that point. Okay.
EMMA: Yeah. That probably started about two hours before my water broke.
And then I felt my water break. Mid text to my midwife, no, nothing's happening. And then pop! So the text reads, No, nothing's happening. No break at all in the text. My water just broke, like full run on sentence. And she was like, I am literally throwing my bags in the car and I am coming. Her assistant had slept on her sofa that night.
Knowing that they would need to just get in the car and run over. Wow. Um, And so they were, they were totally ready to go. And so she got in the car and started racing over here. And I'm thinking that I've got some time, right? Because You're like,
KAREN: she's 40 minutes away. We're good. I know. Like every four minute burger.
EMMA: Right? I
KAREN: love this. It's like God is like playing a trick on you. He's like, Oh no, no, no. You're going to miss it by a few minutes.
EMMA: Yeah. I mean, it was literally, it was like two minutes. And so I actually, the very first thing I did is I called my midwife and I texted my mother in law, who's going to be watching the kids like after the babies were born.
And I texted my parents to tell them that I was in labor and I did not call my husband right away. I just figured I would have like a couple minutes. Instead, I was cleaning Legos up off the floor and I went upstairs and I like put on my cute, like nursing bra and my new shirt and did my makeup because I had a birth photographer coming.
And I mean, all that stuff only took me a few minutes, but I made sure the kids were okay. I just tidied up the house and every probably two minutes I would feel a contraction, but it was a like early labor contraction, like the kind that like takes your attention. But just barely like I had to like stop and kind of breathe through it.
But like, I didn't feel the need to vocalize. I just felt very like calm and in control. And so my husband got home probably about 15 minutes after I went into labor. And was like, are you hungry? I'm going to go out and get us lunch. And I was like, yeah, I kind of am hungry. You should go out and get lunch.
And then I thought about it and was like, eh, I'm not really hungry. And so my husband was like, I'll make you a cheese plate. Cause you know, cheese, energy, everybody loves cheese. And so. My husband, my sweet, delightful husband, pulls all of our cheeses out of the fridge and just starts, like, cutting cheese up and handing it to me.
And the first one he gives me is this habanero cheese, like, spicy. I mean, I like spicy food, but this is, like, a spicy cheese. That probably didn't help anything.
KAREN: Probably sped it up a few more minutes.
EMMA: Yeah, so we decided to come into the living room. We were going to sit down with a cup of tea and watch a show.
And at that point I'd probably been in labor for, probably like 25 minutes at that point. Since my water had broken. And so we walked in here and I had my cup of tea a contraction was just ending and at that point they were still like one or two minutes apart.
I mean I had like 60 seconds in between contractions before I even get it to my mouth, another contraction starts. And it was like, what? This isn't supposed to be happening quite this fast. I'm supposed to have like 60 seconds at least.
Right. And so I put my cup of tea down and all of a sudden I dropped to my hands and knees on the floor and I'm like, This is weird. I don't usually labor on my hands and knees. I give birth on my hands and knees. And the midwife has been texting me like, how's everything going? Call me if you feel pushy.
We'll be there in 24 minutes. And I'm like, I've been in labor for like 15 minutes. It's going to be fine, right?
At that point, my husband is still in the kitchen, like trying to prep this food and get everything ready. And I was like, babe, I think the baby's coming. And I hear like this massive FUD and my bear of a husband is wearing socks and just like has no idea what's happening because he went to the store and nothing was happening.
And he comes back 45 minutes later. And like, everything is happening and nobody's here. So he like falls and smacks his head on the countertop and almost knocks himself out.
So we had already gotten the birth kit out of the garage. And I was like, babe, you got to get out a pad, like get out a pad or something. And he pulls out one Chuck's pad,
give birth on this 12 by 24 inch puppy pad. I hope it all stays contained. And I was like. This isn't gonna work. Like, you've been to three births. They Like, excuse me. Did you just What birth looks like? Richard, this is not gonna work. And I was like, do you have anything else? And he's like no,
KAREN: he was not prepared.
EMMA: So, I mean, that was like one of those, oh my gosh, the baby is coming, contractions. And I, like, managed to pull myself up on the credenza that's in there and be like, I have to get to the bathroom.
And then I had a second to breathe once I got in there. And I remember the contraction after that didn't really hurt that bad. Like it kind of just felt like a normal contraction. I mean, I shouldn't say hurt because really none of them really did, but there was intensity for sure. That one felt a lot less intense than the one before.
I mean, that one contraction that I had that put me on my hands and knees was probably one of those, you went from like a four to an eight and one contraction type thing. And. So this one was a lot more normal and I was like, okay, maybe I've got a minute and we called the midwife and she was on the phone just kind of like Everything's good.
You guys are good. You got this, you know, she was very calm and in control and That was really helpful. So there was another contraction. I was breathing through it at some point, my five year old and my three year old came and we're standing by the door.
And I was really grateful that they came down. Cause one of the most special parts of my previous home birth was having the kids involved and everything had happened so fast. But my three year old and my five year old were just sitting at the door, just watching. At some point instinctively I was like I should probably take my shorts off And so I was only in the bathroom for like one contraction and I was expecting fetal ejection reflux or something, but I mean, I feel like baby A just like fell out. Like I just reached down and was like, Oh, a head.
And then this like slithery sensation and then, Oh, a body. And I am convinced I caught him, but my husband tells me I did not catch him. He went straight through my hands and my husband was like right there. Oh, I'm ready. My husband caught him. He was good. Wait
KAREN: a second. So did your body like bear down and push the baby out?
No,
EMMA: I don't remember feeling any fetal ejection reflex. I did not push, nothing. Like, in my memory, this baby literally just fell out, which kind of makes sense considering how low he was. I mean, he was just about ready to fall out for quite a while. Wow,
KAREN: that's like the dream. Right there.
EMMA: Right? It was like a joke about the women who, like, sneeze and their baby falls out.
Like, that is what it felt like. It was so weird because my other births have been hard. I mean, I've really had to, like, focus and, like, zone in and, like, do the work and really pay attention to keeping myself calm and in control and things like that.
KAREN: And so I was It was all those days of padromal labor.
Helped you in the end, like it wasn't for nothing. They weren't, they weren't for nothing.
EMMA: Yeah, they definitely paved the way. And so my midwife was like, all right, put him up to your chest, get a towel to cover him, keep him warm. I'm a couple minutes away, like just hold on to baby B.
If you get on the
KAREN: phone, like talking you through this.
EMMA: And immediately. The first twin started crying and like, I couldn't hear a word my midwife said after that. I'm sure she was very calm and very encouraging, but you know, screaming baby, little bathroom, it's all echoing around. So you, what position
KAREN: were you in?
Were you squatting on the bathroom floor?
EMMA: I was standing up, crouching, holding onto the vanity. And at that point, I remember the time between baby A and baby B being born. One of my biggest focuses was just not slipping because I was on a slick bathroom floor and there's amniotic fluid everywhere.
KAREN: Yes. Cause your water is broken. And then my water
EMMA: had broken. And after baby A was born, all the water had come out too. Wow. And so. I was just sitting there like, don't flip while you're holding your newborn. You got to do this again. And I felt very calm and in control. I mean, I was having no issues with wrapping my brain around what was happening.
My husband was over there looking a little bit shell shocked. I mean, he was a trooper. My husband has been so good in all of our births. Just like really a pillar of strength in this one. He was as well, but you could tell he was a little caught off guard. He was a deer in
KAREN: the headlights. Well, and it makes sense because you've had this intuitive hint all this whole pregnancy for a precipitous birth.
It's like you've been meditating on that and he has not and you've, you've dropped him. You've told, you've talked about it with your midwife and him, but they're all just like, Oh no, it's fine. It'll be fine. The midwife will be here. Yeah, I really believe women in pregnancy are so spiritual intuitive and there was a deeper Part of you that knew this was a very likely possibility, so it totally makes sense that, like, you were calm and collected.
You had already had, like, this pathway. Like, yeah, it makes sense that this would happen. He did not. So I can totally understand how that would be shocking.
EMMA: He did a really good job, but I remember those three minutes I was sitting there like, all right, I got to make sure my husband isn't like traumatized by this forever.
And so I was telling him, you know, you're going to have to catch the next baby. Cause my hands are full with this one, like one hand holding baby, one hand, trying not to slip off of the vanity onto the bathroom floor. And so I was like, Hey, you're going to have to be here. And so my very brave husband, who, I mean, like.
blood, things like that. He's a Marine. That stuff doesn't bother him. But like bodily fluids are just one of those things that like, he struggles with body fluids.
And just like blood and amniotic fluid is just like splashing. All over him, like it hits the bathroom floor and yeah, just like all over him. He was very calm. I'm sure internally he was like, what's happening? On the outside, he was very calm and he just like bit his lip and he was like, it's fine.
And I was trying so hard not to laugh because
Just watching it unfold in slow motion in front of me was kind of hilarious. I love that,
KAREN: that you were like laughing at your husband's misfortune in between baby A and B. Like who, who does that? Like how often is that, is a twin birth that lighthearted and humorous that it's like, we can laugh about my husband being covered.
It was so
EMMA: lighthearted. Yeah. And my husband had such a good attitude about it. Oh, he's sitting there like. Oh my gosh, what is happening to me? But he just sat there and he was like, we got it. Baby B is coming and I got it. I mean, he was wonderful. And the kids were still just sitting there watching from the bathroom door.
And, so Baby B was born three minutes later. Very, very quickly. Literally just fell out of me. I mean, the way was already paved by Baby A. And Baby A was six and a half pounds. And Baby B was five and a half. So he was even smaller. So he really just came out. My husband caught him and handed him to me and my placenta fell out immediately.
And I was like, Hmm, wow. Usually I don't think placentas are born that fast. And I was very grateful at that point that baby B had been born before placentas because I mean, I, I'm sure that baby B was in the right position and it wasn't an issue, but I was mentally preparing myself for like a third stage of labor.
And the placenta just, like, fell out. And, anyway, it made this part of him a little easier, you know? We just kind of stood there and holding two babies. This seems, like, not real. No, it's like a, like a sitcom. Kind of is what it feels like. Even looking back on it, it kind of, like, feels like a sitcom.
Like, somebody just drafted, like, a hilarious birth story about somebody being worried about their rug and, like, splashing amniotic fluid all over their husband. And the baby just
KAREN: falls out. Wait, that's not how birth really is, but it really happened that way.
EMMA: But it really happened that way. Yes, it did. And so we just kind of sat there, like, looking at each other.
I'm pretty sure we were both laughing at that point. Oh my gosh. You know, you get the oxytocin high and I don't have two babies in my stomach anymore, which feels pretty great. And yeah, it was, it was very excited.
KAREN: Now, normally, from what I hear, precipitous births or fast births can be like, those are usually births under three hours?
EMMA: Three hours from the start of active labor to delivery.
KAREN: Right. So you're on the very fast end of precipitous birth with twins, nonetheless. And from what I have heard from many women this is that they can be emotionally, mentally, and physically overwhelming. Was that the case with yours?
EMMA: Absolutely not. And I think it was just God's grace giving me that intuition that it was going to happen. Because I understand that when things happen that quickly, like there's sometimes a trauma response sometimes, like people are just in shock and they're like, what just happened? And sometimes the sensations and the feelings that they're feeling are so intense that they're just having a hard time processing.
Like I'm having a baby right now. I'm feeling this way. I thought I had like 10 hours and now it's been like one and I don't know what's happening. And I know that it can be very emotionally and physically overwhelming. But I just kind of knew this was gonna happen. I don't know. It didn't feel overwhelming at all.
Actually, I was pretty excited that I had called it. That felt quite vindicating. You're like, I told you all! I told you! I know! I'm like, you all said that I'd have plenty of time, but look at me!
KAREN: When did your midwife get there?
EMMA: she came probably about two or three minutes after baby B was born.
She was outside. I'm pretty sure that her and her assistant literally just grabbed their bags and like ran into the house. And my birth photographer was right on her toes. And so my birth photographer came in and she snapped a few pictures right at the beginning. And I'm really grateful that she did because it was before like anything was cleaned up.
I'm just like sitting there, like laughing, like surrounded by a war zone. Did you
KAREN: just kind of sit down on the bathroom floor in the midst of all of this blood and holding my babies?
And
EMMA: I'm still wearing like my brand new shirt that I got in like two days before, like I didn't even have a chance to like you know, undress really.
KAREN: Like you've probably barely got your pants off in time.
EMMA: I mean really. It was like, oh there is a baby coming out of me. I should probably do this. And like what,
KAREN: what a testimony though of like all the preparation and the work you did because If you were not prepared, you would have this birth completely differently.
It would have been so stressful. And like you explained, like a trauma response, but because you had done all of that preparation, you had been intuitive. You knew what was happening. You weren't surprised and you were able to just be present in that moment, which is incredible.
EMMA: It was such a blessing to not have to deal with the shock.
It was still surprising, like, 34 minutes, and I hadn't even had early labor, you know? I mean, the prodromal labor was early labor, but like, there was nothing consistent about it. I mean, it didn't feel like early labor, like I've had with all of my other babies, where I had like five hours of manageable contractions, but they were regular, they were getting closer together, it was obvious I was in early labor.
There was absolutely none of that. I mean, it went from like, I'm not in labor to like, Pop. Oh, I'm in labor. I'm very in labor.
KAREN: Yes. Even just that visual you're just taking a sip of tea and all of a sudden, No, I'm not. I'm having a baby right now. I am immediately about to give birth.
Like, drop to your hands and knees, crawl to the bathroom, baby falls out. Like, what is this? This is a crazy movie.
EMMA: Yeah, it was, it was pretty It's pretty wild.
your
KAREN: favorite part?
EMMA: Probably my favorite part was when the midwife and her assistant Emily and Trinity and then Jordan is my photographer. And seeing Emily and Trinity and Jordan walk into the bathroom and just be like, You did it.
That was awesome. I think just, it was really like a proud moment of being like, I did do it. But another very great moment was at the very beginning of my labor.
I had called my mother in law to tell her that she should come because I had gone to labor and she was going to help like watch the kids in case they needed any special attention. So she was down in Cincinnati and it took her 45 minutes to get up here. And she walks into our living room sees me on the couch and our couch is situated so that the back is facing when you're walking in.
And so she walks in and she's like. Oh, Emma's having a nice, calm, early labor. And she walks up and she looks over the sofa and she sees me holding two babies. And she's like, what, you know, like it's been like 45 minutes and she hasn't checked her phone because she's just driving calmly and she gets out to walk in and just seeing her look over the sofa and just like the shock on her face.
Trinity, the birth assistant actually, Caught it all on camera, which is fantastic. But seeing her, her surprise was also one of my favorite moments. So yeah, I mean, it's hard to pin it down to like favorite moments. Cause first off there weren't a lot of moments.
KAREN: There was only 34 minutes of that.
Yeah,
EMMA: there, there were not a lot of moments. I mean, not a lot of options to choose from, but it was just all like, so, you know, I couldn't have written it better than God did.
KAREN: And
EMMA: so
KAREN: it
EMMA: was really cool.
KAREN: what I hear and what a pattern I've noticed from twin birth stories, especially ones that are natural and not induced, is that they do tend to go fast.
Now this is definitely a faster one, but I've noticed that it's like they come quick, like they're not messing around. These babies are like, okay. We're done and we are exiting now.
EMMA: Yep. We're fully cooked. We're ready to go. Ready to go. I hope you're ready, mom.
KAREN: Yeah. So I think, I think there's a design to it all.
Like, I think God knows, like, okay. Like it's there, there's almost like a precise timing. Even it's like, it wasn't at 34 weeks. It wasn't at 36. It was 38 for you. Like right in that moment when it happened, it had to happen. And just, it's just amazing how. It all worked out so beautifully. , you weren't scared.
You weren't freaking out. Like your husband was there for you catching the babies. Like, I mean, it sounds like idyllic. It's beautiful. And, and that you got to laugh through it and be like, this is humorous even, like, I just love this whole story. It's, it's like almost unreal. To other pregnant moms out there, especially twin moms, as they're preparing for birth, what would you want them to know?
EMMA: I would say that the biggest thing that changed my birth, not necessarily my birth outcome, but just my mindset of it was preparation. But not preparation and like learning all the facts and things like that, but just like reading positive birth stories, like the birth stories that I got from your page, just seeing all these other women before me who just had these beautiful, peaceful, like spirit filled births, seeing how they really like thrived and owned their birth.
It was like, I can totally do that. Look at all these other women, like clearly our bodies were made for this. And for me, I think that was the single biggest thing that changed the outcome of my birth besides being at home. Being at home was definitely the number one. I mean, comparing my home births to my hospital births, my hospital births, I was like fighting off the nurses, like, no, you're not going to break my water, please stop.
And at home I was just calm and relaxed and my kids were there, which was so special. But I think just preparing myself and reading about this huge range of normal. I mean, the moms who are in labor for 30 hours and the moms who are in labor for one hour, like seeing how all of. The different spectrum of things that are normal and learning about things that weren't normal, too.
And so, you know, if something did happen, then I would have the knowledge to be like, Huh, I'm not sure that this was supposed to happen. I think really just made me so confident going in and that confidence is what allowed me to have a really enjoyable birth rather than a really stressful birth because I'm sure if I had had no knowledge going in, I would have just felt completely overwhelmed.
And so I think for me, like if there's anything I could say to new moms, Or, you know, any mom's preparing for any type of birth. Number one thing I'd say is if you can find a way to make it happen at home, it's absolutely game changing. But if you can't, you know, just reading positive stories, so many positive stories was such a a game changer for me in giving birth confidently.
KAREN: I love that. Well, thank you so much, Emma, for sharing your stories. And I know it's going to inspire women and be one of those stories that other women turn to when they need encouragement. that's why I share so many because I know how powerful women sharing their birth stories really is.
And so for Offering yours to that and for reliving it with us and what a joy it is
EMMA: Yes, it was fun. I will say the only negative emotion I felt the entire time was at the end standing there being like It's over already, you know, because I was, I was really looking forward to birth. Like I was excited and I had an awesome birth.
Like I couldn't have asked for it to be better, but after 34 minutes being like, it's already over. And at that point they were supposed to be my last babies. Surprise. It's not my last baby. I get to do this again in March. Oh my gosh. Yes, he did. He knew that I needed another chance.
But it was supposed to be my last baby and I was so looking forward to, like, labor and just enjoying the process of it. And when it was over, I was kind of bummed. It's like, oh man. I
KAREN: have never heard someone say that.
EMMA: enjoyed that a little bit longer. And yeah, you know, God is giving me another chance to do just that, but that is the only negative emotion I felt that whole entire thing was like, man, I can't believe it's over already.
KAREN: I, that is incredible. I, cause my thought was, I'm so glad that's over with my first one or two, but my labors were like, 24 hours long, not 34 minutes.
So I would
EMMA: also be glad that it was over after that point. Yeah. With my other labors, which were six hours, five hours and eight hours. I was glad that was over. This was definitely my first.
I can't believe it's over already, baby. For
KAREN: babies. That's beautiful. I love it so much. It
EMMA: was
KAREN: wonderful. Thank you for sharing and we'll see you guys next week.
